Cleaning device for glass-washing machines



March M, i939. .1. D. MARKWOOD CLEANING DEVICE FOR GLASS-WASHING MACHINES Original Filed Nov. 50, 1936 ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 14, 1939 2,1 I

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFiCE CLEANING DEVICE FOR GLASS-WASHING MACHINESy Jacob D. Markwood, Minneapolis, Minn.

Original application November 30, 1936, Serial No. 113,411. Divided and this application August 7; 1937, SerialNo. 157,922

This invention relates generally to apparatus tion Serial No. 113,411, led November 30, 1935, foi. cleaning and scrubbing drinking glasses, tumfor Glass scrubber and sterilizer.

blers, steins, cups, and the like, andmore partic Referring now with more particularity to the ularly t a scrubbing unit or head for use in drawing, the reference character A designates if.: cleaning the interior surfaces of'such Vessels. a portion of a cylinder which has the sleeve B 5l- The main object of this invention is to proreceiving the spindle shaft C held in the sleeve vide a cleaningr unit for this purpose which inagainst independent rotation by means of the cludes members of sufficient flexibility and plidiametrically extended pin D. 'Ihe shaft C in ability so that they will conforml to the inner use is rotated together with the sleeve B and atlo Contour of a glass of any usual shape, and will tached cylinder A, and also this shaft C has the V thus contact and clean the entire inner surface axially extended bore 0r Chamber E through of the glass when the unit vis insertedY thereinto. Which the cleaning liquid is fed to the cleanin,r Another object is to provide a cleaning unit of unit. These parts and their operation are set this kind wherein is embodied a center nozzle or out in detail in the aforesaid Copending applica- Spindle dement for Conveying a cleaning liquid tion, and are shown herein only for convenience to the unit and the glass being cleaned, `and to in describing the operation of this invention. which nozzley a plurality of nemble, pliable, and The present invention provides a cleaning unit resilient scrubbing elements are aixedin such or head including as its main or Supporting elernanner that their margins are left free to. flex ment the elongated noZZle or spindle 4 having my. and fold as may be necessary in order to reach the enlarged socket portion 5 at its intended low- 20 all parts of the interior surface of: the glass, er end, and Which Soeket portion is adapted to and so that these margins Will each engage the seat over the sleeve B and be removably retained glass to exert a scrubbing action thereon when thereon by means of bayonet notches 6 found in the unit is rotated. Another object is to provide the Walls of the socket and engaged With the 1;, a unit of this kind With additional scrubbing and ends of the pin D as shown in Fig. l. The nozzle 25 cleaning elements in the form of bristle brushes 4' has the axially extended bore l which will secured to the aforesaid scrubbing elements beregister With the aforesaid chamber E in the tween the free margins thereof and with the spindle shaft C when the nozzle is mounted as bristles spread apart in a radiating fashion so described, and this bore l will then conduct the as to ll out the space between said margins and CleaningI liquid upWardll7 from the Chamber and 3o present a substantially rounded or cylindrical allow it to flow downwardly over the cleaning contour for the unit as a Whole. Still a further elements aiilxed to the nozzle, as will hereinafter object is to provide an assembly of this. kindA be apparent. wherein one of the flexible scrubbing elements is As evidenced in the drawing, the nOZZle 4 is iv extended endwise beyond the ends of the remainvertically disposed When in use2 and the noZZle 35 ing elements whereby thisv extension is free to is given a taper form end to end, With the Smaller fold over and partially roll or curl as may be end turned upwardly so that the unit as a whole necessary for it to reach the bottom of a very WillI have a Corresponding upward` taper such tapered form of glass. as will facilitate its entrance into a glass when The foregoing and still otherl and more specific the same is inverted and placed down over the objects will be disclosed in the following detailed unit. specification, reference being had therein to the It Will be particularly noted in Fig. 3 that the accompanying drawing, wherein: nozzle or. spindle 4 is of triangular cross section, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the cleaning unit, and upon the three contiguous vertical faces thus showing the same as mounted on a rotating eleformed are secured three scrubbing elements 8, 9, 45 ment for supporting and rotating the unit. and lil. These scrubbing elements take the form Fig. 2 is an enlarged diametrical section along of flat, nexible, and resilient members which are the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and snowing the unit secured tangentiallv at their medial portions to alone. the three faces of the nozzle, leaving their op- Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section along the posite lateral margins or wings Il freely extendline 3-3 in Fig. l, this view illustrating the aced as shown. The mounting is by means of tion of the unit on the interior of a glass and plates or strips l2 secured vertically along the which glass is also shown in cross section. centers of the elements 8, 9, and l0, and drawn It may be noted at this point that the present tight by screws I3 tapped into the noZZle as application is a division of my parent applica-y shown. Due to the triangular shape of the noz- 55 zle the adjacent free margins I I of the scrubbing elements 8, 9, and I0 will stand out from the nozzle, side by side, in a radial direction relative to the axis of the nozzle.

In addition to the flexible scrubbing elements 6, 9, and III I provide three brush members I4, E5 and Il?, one of which is mounted lengthwise or vertically along the center of each scrubbing element. These brush members are each made up of bristles carried by a twisted wire I'I, the ends of which are turned inwardly through apertures I8 in the mounting places I2 and anchored thereby, and the bristles radiating from the wires assume a semi-cylindrical formation such as will ll out the spaces between the free margins of the scrubbing members, as evident in Figs. 1 and 3. Y

In use'the cleaning unit is rotated by the shaft C, and the cleaning liquid is fed to the topV through the nozzle 4 so that it flows down over the various cleaning elements. The glass to be cleaned, indicated at F in Fig. 3, is then inverted and placed downwardly over the unit so that the scrubbing elements 8, 9, and I0 and the brush members ill, I5, and IIi` engage and. operate against the inner surface of the glass` to clean the same. In this operation the free margins or wings il of the scrubbing elements 8, 5, and I0 will readily flex and bend as may be necessary, and will engage and scrub the entire inner surface of the glass, no matter what its shape or conformation may be, as will be readily apparent. It is an important feature of this invention that, while the said margins II normally stand together as stated, they will be spread apart slightly when entered into a glass (see Fig. 3), and will present six separate and distinct scrubbing edges acting on the glass. To facilitate the necessary flexing of the margins II they have slits I9 cut at spaced intervals so that the portions between the slits have great freedom of movement. Also an important feature of this invention is the extension of one scrubbing element, as I, so that its upper end portion 2S projects above the upper ends of the remaining elements, and is thus free to bend, curl, or fold as may be necessary in order to reach the very bottom of a tapered form of glass.

The brush members I4, I5, and I6 of course will flex and bend as necessary to accommodate the glass (Fig. 3), and will add their brushing effect to the scrubbing action of the margins II to thoroughly clean the glass in a short time.

It will be noted in Figures 1 and 2 that the brush members lli, I5 and I6 extend only partially along the length of the scrubbing members 8, Si, and Il! and terminate considerably short of the upper end of the assembly. As a result, the upper ends of the scrubbing members are free to ex and fold as may be requiredto reach the bottom of the glass while the brush members are disposed in position to exert their brushing action mainly adjacent the rim of the glass where most needed.

It is understood that suitable modifications of the structure may be made, provided such modifications do not depart from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having -now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A scrubbing device comprising an elongated spindle of triangular cross section, a at resilient scrubbing member secured by its medial portion longitudinally to each flat face of the spindle and with its sides extended freely from' the contiguous corners of the spindle to thereby meet and mutually support the corresponding sides of adjacent scrubbing members in radially extended directions relative to the axis of the spindle.

2. A scrubbing device comprising a spindle of multilateral form, a flat resilient scrubbing member mounted flatly/by its medial portion along each side of the spindle andV extending freely from the adjacent corners of the spindle to meet and support the corresponding free extension of adjacent scrubbing members in radially turned directions relative to the axis of the spindle, mounting members securing the medial portions of the said scrubbing members to the sides of the spindles, and brush bristles secured to the said mounting members and extended in flaring radial directions therefrom between the radially extending portions of the scrubbing members.

3. A scrubbing device comprising a supp-orting and operating member of multilateral form, a flat, pliable scrubbing member mounted by its medial portion along each side of the supporting member and extending at its margins freely from the corners thereof to thereby meet and mutually support the corresponding margins of adjacent scrubbing members in radially extending directions relative to the axis of said supporting member, and brush elements mounted on the flat portions of the scrubbing members with their bristles extended lin flaring radial directions between the extended margins of the said scrubbing members.

4. A scrubbing device comprising a supporting and operating member ofV multilateral form, a flat, pliable scrubbing member mounted by its medial portion along each side of the supporting member and extending at its margins freely from the corners thereof to thereby meet and mutually support the corresponding. margins of adjacent scrubbing members in radially extending directions relative to the axis of said supporting member, and one of the said scrubbing members being extended endwise beyond the others.

5. A scrubbing device comprising a supporting and operating member of multilateral form, a fiat, pliable scrubbing member mounted by its medial portion along each side of the supporting member and extending at its margins freely from the corners thereof to thereby meet and mutually support the ycorresponding margins of adjacent scrubbing members-in radially extending directions relative to the axis of said supp-orting member, all of the said scrubbing members being extended at one end freely from the end of the supporting member.

JACOB D. MARKWOOD. 

